New Beginning
by rachael-green-bakura
Summary: The story of a trainer named Reiku as he tries to find a lost friend by using the resources of Team Rocket.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! Another new fic I've been wanting to write for awhile now, a Pokémon fic featuring my RP Character, Reiku! No, none of my unfinished fics have been abandoned, merely…put on hold until this one gets its footing.

* * *

Reiku sat against a tree outside his house, so that the tree shielded him from the crisp autumn wind. A boy of eighteen, with light silver hair and bright aqua-colored eyes, he often sat outside like this, usually with his Umbreon or one of his other Pokémon with him. His Pokémon were rarely in their Pokéballs in any case.

His eyes drifted over to his Swampert, Kipkip, who was supervising the play of the just-hatched Treecko, Blade. Blade was the son of the Sceptile belonging to his oldest and closest friend. Every time he saw the young Pokémon he was reminded of her, and how she had gone missing roughly two weeks ago.

Reiku sighed and Shadow's head came up off Reiku's lap to look at him, sensing his quiet distress. Reiku put a hand on the Umbreon's head without taking his eyes off Blade, now climbing up Kipkip's back. The two had hit it off the way Kipkip had hit it off with Blade's father all those years ago.

"I dunno, Shadow," he said to the Umbreon. "I just don't know."

Shadow laid his head back down on Reiku's lap and closed his crimson eyes. Reiku picked up the Pokégear next to him and opened his texts. He scrolled through the messages, hoping there was a new one he missed, but knowing there wasn't. After several minutes, when any new message stubbornly refused to show itself, he hit Create New Message. He quickly typed in _Where are you? _and hit Send.

No sooner had he sent the text, the Pokégear vibrated in his hand. He opened it hastily, and was overwhelmed with the disappointment of it not being from her. As he read through the new message, and read through it again, his excitement began to build.

_Mr. Kori – Your application has been accepted. A messenger will arrive to take you to our base within a few days. Be completely ready to go when he arrives. – Giovanni Sakaki, Team Rocket Leader._

Reiku raised his eyebrows slightly and read the message one more time, to make absolutely certain he had read it right. When he was sure this was really happening, he ruffled Shadow's ears, jerking the Umbreon out of his half-doze.

Reiku showed him the message. "What d'you think, Shadow?" he asked. "Think we're finally gonna find her?"

Shadow barked and cocked his head.

"Of course I haven't forgotten," Reiku answered. "I haven't stopped thinking about it. It's still my main concern, and will be until we find her."

He got to his feet and strode over to where his starter and the baby Treecko were playing. Blade let out a happy noise and jumped from Kipkip's shoulder to Reiku's, clinging to the material of his jacket.

"Come on, guys," he said. "We gotta pack some stuff. Where's Aer?"

As if on cue, the Skarmory swooped down a short distance away, a Zigzagoon clamped in his beak.

"Ah, there you are," said Reiku, choosing not to remark on Aer's prey. "Come on, we have an opportunity to find her. And your father," he added quietly to the Treecko on his shoulder.

* * *

Exactly four days later, a large Fearow landed outside Reiku's house, standing silently until Reiku came outside, Shadow at his heels, as per usual. The Fearow had a note tied to the black collar around his neck.

_Mr. Kori – Fearow will take you to our base in the Kanto region. Follow him closely; he's been known to leave people behind. – Giovanni Sakaki, Team Rocket Leader._

"Don't worry. Aer can match anything you can throw at him," Reiku said with confidence, but he felt a small stir of worry. The Kanto region was a long way off, across the sea, and Aer, fast as he was, had never made that far of a journey before.

But Aer swooped down from wherever he had been and stared Fearow in the eye, issuing the silent challenge. Fearow did not bat an eye, but stared back with equal ferocity. Reiku rolled his eyes. This wouldn't be the first time Aer challenged another flying type, but now was not the time. He put a hand on Aer's back to calm him.

"Shadow, return," he said, recalling Shadow to his Pokéball. He put Shadow's Pokéball safely in his bag with Kipkip's and Blade's and slung the bag over his shoulder. Reiku climbed onto Aer's back and nodded to Fearow, who immediately took off. Aer followed suit, visibly trying to pull ahead.

"Aer, stop it," Reiku scolded. "Just follow him, don't try to race him; we don't know where we're going."

Aer let out a noise that sounded remarkably like a whine, but pulled back.

Fearow flew amazingly fast, with Aer following as close as he could. He kept a steady pace with Fearow, oblivious to the biting cold, while Reiku shivered on his back as the wind whipped by him. As they passed over Fortree City, Fearow rose above the clouds and the temperature dropped even further. Reiku suddenly wished Skarmory was not a steel type, or at least that he had gloves. Aer's steel feathers were icy under his numb hands. By the time night fell, Reiku was ready for the flight to be over with, quite sure that ice was now forming on his fingernails, but the sea was still an endless expanse below them. Aer was tiring and beginning to lag behind. It had been dark for a few hours when Reiku finally saw the continent that was Kanto-Johto. It wasn't for another few hours, however, after passing over numerous clusters of lights that were cities, Fearow started to dive for a grove of trees a few miles beyond Cerulean City, Aer following suit.

By the time Aer and the half-frozen Reiku touched down, Fearow had already landed and we being greeted by a young boy of around fourteen. He had violent scarlet hair and grey eyes. Reiku personally thought that he looked too young to be in a criminal organization.

"It took you long enough!" shouted the boy. "Did you know it's after midnight?"

"No," replied Reiku shortly, rubbing his hands together. "It's a long flight, kid. I live in Hoenn."

"Not anymore," said the boy. "Now come on, it's late, cold, and I want to get to bed."

"Why are you even out here waiting anyway, kid?" Reiku questioned.

The boy ignored his question and turned to Fearow. "You deserve a rest. Go on, off to the aviary with you." Fearow cawed and took off to somewhere on the other side of the bleak grey building. He turned to Reiku and answered his questioning look. "It's not really an aviary. That's just what we call the section of forest our messenger birds like to nest in. It's not too far from here. Your Skarmory is welcome to go there as well, once you've been here long enough for the other birds to trust him."

"I think he'll stay with me for now," replied Reiku, recalling Aer to his Pokéball. He turned back to the red-haired boy to find he was already going inside. Reiku hurried to catch up. Now that they were in a lit hallway, Reiku could see how tired the boy looked. He knew that he couldn't look much better, and he probably looked very windswept on top of that.

"Alright," said the boy as he led Reiku down a series of bare grey-walled hallways that Reiku was sure he wasn't going to remember later. "My job tonight is to take you to the Boss's office for your briefing and then take you to where you'll sleep. Then I can go to sleep myself."

"You didn't have to wait for me this late, you know," said Reiku.

"Yeah, I did," replied the boy. "Silver's orders. He's the Boss's right-hand man. Besides, how else would you have found where to go without a guide? I grew up in this building; I'm always the natural choice for a guide."

The boy finally stopped outside a door. "Well, here's the office. Try not to take too long, I really want to go to bed."

"Thanks," Reiku muttered as the boy knocked loudly on the door. "Boss! Silvs! The new recruit is _finally_ here."

"Send him in," called a voice on the other side of the door. The boy nodded to Reiku, who opened the door and walked inside.

Giovanni Sakaki sat behind a mahogany desk, garbed in a trenchcoat and a black fedora. His hard black eyes looked Reiku up and down. Reiku stood in what he hoped was a confident manner. Behind Giovanni, half in shadow, a boy around Reiku's age leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. This must be Silver, Reiku supposed. He had the same crimson hair as the boy outside, but his eyes shone more silver than grey. Silver nodded at Reiku; Giovanni leaned forward.

"Two brief things before I let you go and we can all go to bed. First, the location of this base is top secret; the only people allowed to reveal its location to anyone at all are myself and my two sons. It's more than your life's worth to reveal our location. My oldest son will be especially…displeased." He gestured to the boy behind him. Silver smirked and gave Reiku a small wave. "Second, you will need a uniform. One will be issued to you within a few days. Now go; it's late and you just flew dozens of miles."

Reiku found his voice. "Thank you for letting me join."

Silver laughed. "Heheh. Team Rocket is always recruiting new members. Welcome aboard. Dismissed."

The boy was waiting outside like he said he would be. "So the Boss and my brother didn't bite your head off, I see. That'll be a first. Silvs has a nasty habit of intimidating the newbies. He thinks it's fun."

"Can't imagine why," said Reiku dryly. Then he stopped as the boy's words sunk in. "Wait. Brother? So that means you're…?"

"Gio's younger son, yeah," replied the boy. "Grey Sakaki."

"So that's why you're so young," Reiku thought out loud.

A look of annoyance crossed Grey's face. He turned and began to lead Reiku down the hall. "Having the Boss as your dad has its advantages."

"Whatever you say, kid," said Reiku, following him. He smirked to himself as the look of annoyance deepened.

"So I'm allowed to be with Rocket, despite my age," he continued in slightly too level a voice.

"Alright, kid," said Reiku lightly, thoroughly enjoying annoying Grey at this point.

"I'm also an executive, under only Giovanni and Silver, your superior, and I hate disrespectful grunts and being called 'kid.'"

"Okay, ki – what? _Fuck._" But when he glanced up at Grey he saw he was grinning.

"My brother intimidates people for his fun. I screw with them," said Grey.

"I – you – you just played me at my own game and beat me," stammered Reiku, thunderstruck.

Grey laughed. "I think you and I are gonna get along just fine. The disrespectful ones are the most fun to be around actually. They provide more of a challenge most of the time. Just don't pull that on Silver or the Boss or any of the other executives for that matter. You can get into a _lot_ of trouble for it. Well, maybe you can get away with it with Proton and Petrel, but they're kind of idiots. No idea how they became executives."

Reiku, who was struggling to keep the names straight while memorizing the path they were taking, noticed that Grey stopped in front of a door with no name engraved on it like the ones down the hall.

"Right," said Grey. "All the grunts share a room with one other. Your room, however, doesn't have a roomie yet. We got another application sent in, from Hoenn as well, and if the Boss and Silvs accept them, he'll be your roommate. You're free to let your Pokémon out, and free to have them out in the rest of the base as well. I'll be back in the morning to show you around the rest of the base. Executives and higher all get a room to themselves, which I am off to now. Night."

And with that, Grey turned and walked back in the direction they had come, leaving Reiku alone in the deserted hallway. He turned the knob and entered the room. It was as bleak as the rest of the base, with grey walls and two beds, one against opposite walls. Reiku threw his bag on the bed closest to the door and flopped down on it. Not quite as comfortable as his bed was back home, but good enough.

He sifted through his bag until he found the four Pokéballs and released his Pokémon. Shadow immediately leapt up onto the bed next to his trainer.

"Alright, guys," Reiku said. "We're gonna be living here from now on. Not as grand as our place back home, but there'll be plenty of other Pokémon around. Maybe even some of the same kind. Get some sleep now, though."

His Pokémon obliged. Shadow curled up at his side; Kipkip curled up on the floor and Blade climbed on top of him; Aer put his head under his wing.

Reiku, however, did not go to sleep immediately. Instead he fished his Pokégear out of his bag and opened his messages. He sifted through them, searching for that nonexistent one he wanted so badly to see, a habit that had gotten progressively worse since she'd disappeared.

_Hey, Sanura. I still haven't heard any word from you. It's been almost three weeks. I don't know where you are, or if you're okay, or if anything at all has happened, and it's killing me. Leif's child hatched, by the way. It's a boy; I named him Blade. He's nearly as attached to Kipkip as his father is. Is Leif okay? I joined Team Rocket. I know you would deck me if you were here, but Teams have the best resources to track down people. I'll find you, and we'll battle like we did when we were kids. I promise. With any luck, I won't lose as miserably that time. I'll find you. – Rei._

"I'll find you, Sanura," he said softly, putting the Pokégear back in his bag and closing his eyes. "I'll find you."

* * *

Good? Bad? Continue? Kill it with fire?

Yeah, I know a couple details are incredibly off-cannon, namely Grey's existence and Silver being the heir to Rocket when in the manga he clearly stated that he didn't recognize Giovanni as his father and hates the Rockets. There's a simple explanation: roleplays. A large one I was a part of (as Reiku, so there will be some "we really did this" scenes), there were two Silvers, so one of them took the name Grey and played him as Original!Silver's little brother; Original!Silver was played as an eighteen year old who has joined with the Rockets. Everything in here is post Platinum.


	2. Chapter 2

The first week Reiku spent with Team Rocket was possibly the most confusing week he had ever had. His biggest problem was finding his way around the base without getting lost, which was not getting much easier even though Grey had showed him around several times; his second biggest problem was keeping names straight. Besides learning the names of at least six new members a day, there were names outside of Team Rocket that kept coming up. One person who was mentioned a lot, especially by the higher-ups, was a man called Lance.

"You're serious? You don't know who Lance is?" asked Grey with a stunned look when Reiku asked him days later.

"Hoenner, remember?" said Reiku. "People who are famous over here get hardly any publicity back home."

"Right, I know that, but…to not know _Lance?_" Grey continued to use that disbelieving tone. "_Everybody_ knows who Lance is."

"Obviously not," replied Reiku, "since I have to ask you."

"Lance is the Champion of Kanto-Johto," Grey said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. Reiku wished he would stop acting like it was such a big deal. "Dad – Boss – has had his sights set on running the place for a long time. According to what Silver's told me, we're gonna take down the League soon. They've been meeting with this weird guy, making an alliance with another team, I think. He's creepy, red hair, dresses all in red and black. Leader of Team Magma, I think it was called."

"_Maxie?_" exclaimed Reiku. "Maxie was here?"

"Yeah, that's the guy's name," said Grey. "How d'you know that, and not know Lance?"

"_Ho – enn – er," _Reiku said slowly in exasperation. Grey's ability to remember he was from Hoenn was about as good as his, Reiku's, ability to navigate the base. "Course I would know him. Him and Archie are our version of the Boss."

There was a short pause.

"Hey, Reiku?"

"Hm?"

"Hoenn is weird."

Reiku gave Grey a look. "You know what, Grey? Shut up."

There was also the long list of people not to cross and who it was okay to cross. Grey did his best to teach Reiku who was okay to joke around with and who wasn't – ("That's Ariana, don't cross her if your life depended on it." "That's Proton, he's a pretty fun guy once you get over his constant sex drive.") – and many of these people he barely saw. He had only seen Giovanni once since the night he arrived. He saw Silver more often, but not by much. Grey was the only person he saw every day. This didn't help with learning names.

Eight days after Reiku joined Team Rocket, while he was mentally celebrating finding his way back to his room on his own, Grey caught up with him.

"Reiku…hey..." he panted. "Sil…Silver wants to see you in his office."

"What for?" asked Reiku cautiously.

"Dunno," answered Grey, getting his breath back. "He didn't sound pissed. Maybe you're getting your first assignment. I know he sent Ariana to fetch this new girl too. I don't know her too well, but she seems really timid. Hope Ariana doesn't scar her for life."

Reiku laughed. "Right then, I'm going. Silver said right now?"

"Yeah," replied Grey. "Want me to go with you?"

"Nah," said Reiku. "Shadow learned the entire layout in about two days. I can follow him." He indicated the Umbreon at his heels. Shadow blinked up at Grey in a reassuring kind of way.

"If only you had the direction sense of your Pokémon," said Grey.

"Oh, can it, Grey," said Reiku dryly.

He turned and started down the hall with Shadow a little ahead of him, waving to Grey over his shoulder. After only three wrong turns, he and Shadow found themselves in sight of Silver's office. Someone else was already leaning against the wall by the door.

It was a girl, a little younger than Reiku. Garbed in the standard black Team Rocket uniform, a long auburn ponytail with a red streak in it flowed from under her hat. She was playing with the ends of her hair nervously and had a Pokégear in her hand. Reiku recognized her as a girl he saw every now and then. He didn't know her name, but recognized her as the girl who dropped whatever she was holding whenever she noticed him.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, looking up and spotting him. She dropped her Pokégear with a clatter. She bent down hastily to pick it up, blushing furiously. "I-I didn't know y-you were the o-one I-I had to w-wait for."

"Well…I am," said Reiku, deciding not to comment on how nervous she clearly was. "I don't think we know each other by name yet. I'm Reiku."

"St-Star," answered the girl, looking anywhere but his eyes.

"Since we're both here, Star, think we're allowed to go in?" he asked her.

Star blushed. "I-I suppose so."

After a few seconds of her standing there looking interestedly at the ceiling, Reiku decided that she wasn't going to move and knocked on the door himself.

"It's open," called Silver's voice from the other side.

"Well, come on then," said Reiku to Star, his hand on the knob.

She glanced at him before looking down at her boots. Reiku sighed internally and opened the door. Silver sat behind his desk. He glanced up and saw who it was, closing whatever he had been working on.

"Right," he said. "You two are both new to Team Rocket, but you're also overdue for your first assignment. So here's what I want you to do. One of our field agents from Johto has a package. You can find him at the Cerulean Pokémon Center. You'll be able to find him easily, he's the ninja. Wait. Well, you'll be able to pick him out in a Pokémon Center where he can't go all ninja. I want the two of you to go get that package and deliver _to me or Giovanni._ No one else gets their hands on this, got it?"

"Got it," said Reiku. Star mumbled something and continued to stare at the floor. "Why do two of us need to go to just get a package?"

"In case you're attacked," said Silver unconcernedly. "You're Rockets, remember? Most people don't like us. Wild Pokémon are also a small problem."

"…Right."

"If you guys understand, then you're dismissed," said Silver. He opened what he had been working on back up, a clear dismissal.

Reiku and Star left the office, Star still determinedly looking anywhere but him. She didn't say a word until they were outside the base.

"So, we had better get going," said Reiku. "Do you have a flying type?"

"Oh, no," she said. "I-I c-can't stand fl-flying."

"How far is Cerulean?"

"N-not f-far," mumbled Star.

"Where is it?" asked Reiku. He thought he might be being a bit cruel to this girl, who clearly didn't want to talk, but he was still vastly unfamiliar with Kanto-Johto.

"Y-you know…over there…" Star pointed in a general direction.

"Because that's really specific," Reiku said sarcastically. Star blushed.

"It's r-really not that far," she said, looking up. "P-Pyre can take us ea-easily."

Star released an Arcanine from a Pokéball on her belt and climbed onto his back. She falteringly told Reiku to get on Pyre's back.

"Okay, Pyre," she said to the Arcanine. "Cerulean City, please."

Pyre barked and leaped off in the direction Star had pointed earlier. Reiku yelled with surprise and flattened himself against the Arcanine's back.

_How can this girl prefer this over flying!_ he wondered to himself after a time as Pyre took another bound. _Flying is nearly always smooth and gentle. This is nauseating._

Just as Reiku was seriously wondering whether or not he was going to be sick, Pyre stopped so abruptly that he was thrown off. Swearing, he picked himself up off the ground and glared at Star.

"I am not doing that again. I'll fly right above you on the return journey," he stated quite plainly. Star looked at her feet again and gave a very small nod.

Still a little angry about the lack of warning on the extremely bumpy ride, Reiku was reluctant to accept her help. But after getting himself royally lost in yet another unfamiliar area, he had to admit as Star quietly pointed out where the Pokémon Center was it would've saved him a lot of trouble if he had let her do that in the beginning.

Upon entering, the man they were looking for was unmistakable. He wore an outfit that would not have looked out of place on a ninja, and had a long red muffler tied around his neck. He had a fairly large package on his lap and seemed to give off a shady air. He looked up as they entered.

"Boss Junior sent you two, I assume," he said in a deep voice.

"Boss…Junior?" asked Reiku. "You mean Silver?"

"Young Silver, who is the heir to Rocket. Therefore, Boss Junior."

"Whatever you say," said Reiku. "Is that what we had to pick up?"

"It is," said the man. He leaned in close to the two of them. "You two do not see the contents of this parcel. Is that understood?"

"Yeah," said Reiku. Star said nothing.

The man stayed and watched them intently as they strapped the package to Aer, as though concerned the two would do an ineffectual job. When the package was safely strapped to Aer's claws and Reiku and Star were on their respective preferred methods of transportation, the two took off. The man watched them go.

When Reiku had flown high enough to not be hindered by trees while still able to plainly see Star below him, he looked back at the mysterious man. He got a small shock when he saw that the man had vanished without a trace.

* * *

When they arrived back at base, Star hurriedly returned her Arcanine to his Pokéball and ran inside without a goodbye. Reiku rolled his eyes and unstrapped the package from Aer's claws.

"Bro, you've gotta break this habit of coming back to the base so damn late," said a joking voice behind him.

Reiku straightened and turned around. "Hey, Grey."

Grey grinned as he leaned against the doorway. "I saw Star run by me and figured you guys got back okay. Scaring off the girls already, Rei?"

"Ha ha," said Reiku sarcastically. "D'you know what her deal is? She barely said anything and never once looked me in the eye."

"I'm fourteen. Girls are an alien species to me," said Grey. "I told you she was timid. I don't really see her as Rocket material, but maybe she'll surprise us."

"Hm. She kind of has the air of someone who would rather not interact with people," Reiku remarked. "Alright, Aer. Go on."

Aer took flight towards the aviary. He was happier sleeping outside and the Fearow didn't seem to mind him much. Reiku held the package under his arm and followed Grey inside.

"I gotta give this to Silver or the Boss," he told Grey.

"I figured," said Grey. "It would take the mystery out of it if just anyone could have it."

The two talked lightly until they arrived outside of Giovanni's door. There was the murmur of three different voices behind the door. Reiku knocked.

The talking stopped abruptly. There was a heavy pause before Giovanni's voice called, "Enter."

Reiku opened the door and looked in. Inside were Giovanni, behind his desk, Silver, behind his father, and Maxie, standing in front of both of them. Reiku only know the last person from pictures in the newspaper on the rare occasion the press caught up with Team Magma, but it was unmistakably him.

Silver smirked. "Reiku. Come on in," he said. Maxie's eyes narrowed a fraction and he looked as though he were trying to remember something.

Reiku walked in and deposited the package on Giovanni's desk. He cleared his throat nervously, very aware of Maxie's eyes on him. "I've, um, I've got the package from Cerulean."

"Good work, Reiku," said Silver. "Dismissed."

"Come on, Reiku," said Grey from the doorway.

Maxie's eyes widened slightly, as if he had just remembered what he had been trying to. He caught Reiku's arm as he walked by. "You're name is Reiku, correct?"

Reiku met his eyes. "Yes," he replied cautiously.

"Your surname wouldn't happen to be Kori, would it?" Maxie asked slowly.

Reiku's mouth fell open. He tried to answer, but no sound came out.

"Maxie," said Giovanni sharply. Both Maxie and Reiku looked up at him. "Let the boy go. He's not part of our conversation. It's late, and he's just returned from an assignment. I've sure he wants to go bed." His tone left no room for argument.

Maxie released his grip around Reiku's arm and turned back to the Rocket leaders. Reiku stood frozen in shock for a fraction of a second before walking rather briskly to the door and shutting it behind him.

"What was that about?" asked Grey. "Do you know him?"

"N-no," said Reiku. "Just by word of mouth. I have no idea what that was about."

"Well, that was beyond weird," said Grey.

"You're telling me."

"How did he know your last name?"

"Hell if I know… That's what's so weird about it."

But as he and Grey walked back to their rooms, Grey's question kept penetrating his mind. _How _did _he know my last name? What does it mean to the leader of Team Magma?_

* * *

Cookie to everyone who correctly guesses who the man they got the package from was. He's a cannon character. May or may not be named later, if I decide to use him. I think I'll withhold the next chapter until someone guesses correctly. It's actually pretty obvious if you think about it.

The plot thickens. I love Maxie~


End file.
